Women Promoting Democratic Values

Former Santa Cruz Mayor Don Lane, a member of the Housing Advocacy Network, gave a talk to Democratic Women’s Club members at Louden Nelson Community Center on Saturday, March 25.. Over 30 local nonprofits, unions, political organizations, community advocacy groups, and nonprofit affordable housing developers across the political spectrum have joined to support the development of more affordable housing in our county. Lane makes the case in that in order to create more housing options for the community, residents need to “say yes” as housing projects come up for approval. Read more at scchousingadvocacynetwork.com and watch a video from Don’s talk (below) or on our Facebook page.

Mary Hughes, founder of Close the Gap, an organization dedicated to electing progressive women to elected office, gave an inspiring talk to a sold-out crowd at a DWC luncheon Feb. 25. During a talk titled “Opportunities for Women to Regain Our Ground in 2018,” Hughes gave an update on the status of elected women in the California Legislature and provided some practical tips for recruiting women to enter electoral politics.

Hughes has played a pivotal role in the election of numerous women to public office in California and brings a wealth of practical electoral experience into her talks. Unfortunately, women lost seats in the California legislature in the most recent election. This work seems all the more important given the election of the misogynist-in-chief as our new president. At the lunch, DWC members also voted to give $475 to the organization to support its work statewide.

The Reproductive Rights Network is concerned that across the US abortion services and reproductive rights’ services are not always easy to access. Our speakers this year are Yamani Hernandez, Executive Director of the National Network of Abortion Funds, will inform us of the actions their organization takes to help women across the nation access services they are legally entitled to receive and Samar Azam-Yu, Executive Director of ACCESS Women’s Health Justice which operates in Oakland but whose services reach women all over California, will speak on the kinds of difficulties women in California experience accessing reproductive rights services.

In observance of the 44th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, the REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS NETWORK of Santa Cruz County invites you to join us, learn, connect and act Pro-Choice Brunch REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE AND ABORTION ACCESS: Confronting Barriers through Grassroots Organizing Join us to hear from leaders of two grassroots organizations at the forefront of the reproductive justice movement.

They’ll describe their organizations’ work to promote practical support for access to abortion services, the importance of reproductive justice values in public policy, and potentially far-reaching threats to essential health care from the incoming administration.

YAMANI HERNANDEZ, Executive Director, National Network of Abortion Funds NNAF builds the capacity and power of 70 grassroots member organizations in 38 states, which together help remove financial and logistical barriers to abortion services for over 100,000 women annually, while promoting cultural and political change. Yamani built her career in reproductive justice through state-based work on behalf of the sexual health, rights and identities of youth. She holds a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.Arch. from the University of Washington. www.abortionfunds.org.

SAMARA AZAM-YU, Executive Director, ACCESS Women’s Health Justice ACCESS provides direct services, advocacy and community action to ensure that low-income California women are informed and supported in all their reproductive choices. Samara started with ACCESS as a Practical Support Volunteer and became Executive Director in 2012. She completed her undergraduate degree at UC Davis and is currently a masters degree candidate at Mills College with an emphasis on Nonprofit Management and Socially Responsible Business. www.accesswhj.org

Also on JANUARY 21:Santa Cruz County chapter of WOMEN’S MARCH ON WASHINGTON.
Meet at Santa Cruz City Hall at 1:30 p.m.; Rally and March to Louden Nelson Center.

If you are ready to “get away” to a subject that is more joyful than our recent election, please join with other DWC members at our program for a look back at Women in Early Hollywood with special guest Sally Stamp, professor of film and digital media at UC Santa Cruz.